App Review Second Opinion Scanners: F Secure

It is advised to take all reviews with a grain of salt. In extreme cases some reviews use dramatization for entertainment purposes.
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cruelsister

Shadowra

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The F-Secure Online scanner is useless for me because it only scans the memory. I would like F-Secure to improve it.

Where I disagree: F-Secure is an excellent antivirus. But, it has indeed a rather weak disinfection capacity. It can delete, but not when an attack is present in a compressed element (Macro style, Java etc)
Even if it can block it at launch or at copy. I won't blame it for this because some antivirus programs do this, including Avira
 

Moonhorse

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Never used f-secure virus removal and it seems i never will

After the video i went to see if avira had specific tool for virus removal, i installed their adware /spyware tool....to see if it works. It installed whole avira suite for me ...took like hour to remove it completely 🤦‍♂️
 

harlan4096

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@cruelsister Bitdefender have created a small scanner, you should try it :)

It seems that tools does not scan for malware.

Also in a few seconds got this:

1674739152215.png

Seriously? I don't use IE nor Edge! And the 2nd and 3rd item ARE TOTALLY FALSE!!!!! 🤦‍♂️🙄🤢

Uninstalled!!!
 
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Azure

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Azure

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No idea, it looks more like a vulnerability scan than an anti-malware scanner .... :/
Weird. Reading their f.a.q. they state that

What is a “second opinion” scanner?​

Bitdefender Safety Check makes sure you get notified if vulnerabilities are found on your system and your primary security solution fails to protect you from all threats.

What types of threats are detected?​

Bitdefender Safety Check detects if anything has slipped by your current security solution and left a mark on your system. It also detects if something is wrong with your current configuration so you can close security gaps.

How does it prevent additional malware from infecting my system?​

Although it does not protect you against malware on its own, Bitdefender Safety Check lets you test Bitdefender’s world-class antimalware solutions.
You can try Bitdefender Total Security for 30 days (totally free) and see the best detection technologies in action.
They make it sound like it’s also a malware scanner.
 

Dave Russo

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It seems that tools does not scan for malware.

Also in a few seconds got this:

View attachment 272442

Seriously? I don't use IE nor Edge! And the 2nd and 3rd item ARE TOTALLY FALSE!!!!! 🤦‍♂️🙄🤢

Uninstalled!!!
I got the exact same results, Thank you for your incite, some scanners (have to show (even false fear tactics) to sell there product )Thank you, uninstalled
 

SeriousHoax

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Mar 16, 2019
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It seems that tools does not scan for malware.

Also in a few seconds got this:

View attachment 272442

Seriously? I don't use IE nor Edge! And the 2nd and 3rd item ARE TOTALLY FALSE!!!!! 🤦‍♂️🙄🤢

Uninstalled!!!
Yeah looks like a separate version of their vulnerability scanner. Most AV product's vulnerability scanners are useless and out of date. The one by Bitdefender is more so.
 

Andrezj

Level 6
Nov 21, 2022
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The long standing problem with the F-S is its weak repairing capability. The last time I tested F-Secure, I was impressed that instead of cleaning malicious macros in an infected document, it only allowed the user to skip...
no security product removal is 100% reliable, accurate or complete; once there is an infection the system (malware running on the system; not just a malicious file sitting in some directory doing nothing), that system can no longer be trusted and the user should perform a clean install of the operating system

But, it has indeed a rather weak disinfection capacity. It can delete, but not when an attack is present in a compressed element (Macro style, Java etc)
file disinfection is not 100% reliable, accurate or complete from any security product; once the file has been infected it can no longer be trusted and the user needs to get rid of it

specific tool for virus removal
any removal tool - portable utility, online removal, removal by boot-script, antivirus boot-loading cd\usb - none of them are reliable enough to trust a machine after it has been infected (infection actively running or has run on the system); the user should perform a clean install of the operating system

oh, i'm sure people do not want to hear this, but it one thing to play with security software to observe the quality of malware removal, it is an entirely different matter when it is a real-world infection on a production machine where users perform online financial transactions and other activities involving valuable personal data

if a user is relying upon security software removal instead of clean installing the operating system, then they're already beat - by the time the removal happens the malware could already have forwarded the public ip address, used arp to ping the manufacturer of the default gateway (router), performed a network ping sweep, stolen cached passwords and license keys, surreptitiously enabled features or configurations that give a threat actor full access (despite the malware detection), etc

too little, too late
 
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cruelsister

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Shadowra

No idea, it looks more like a vulnerability scan than an anti-malware scanner .... :/
Not only that, but it does not have the ability to fix whatever it finds. Also it stays resident on the system and has a downloader for occasional connections out. Whoever thought that this was a good idea had to have been drunk.

Would the results be the same if you tested with the AV instead of using the Online Scanner. I do not know if they have the same capabilities. Thanks.
I didn't test this out myself with any of the F-Secure products as the last few videos were just about the 2nd opinion scanner ability to detect dropped malware and common persistence mechanisms. The malware used in the videos were chosen for efficiencies sake to give the broadest overview of what should be detected on an infected system and were not chosen for recency. That being said I'm sure FS would have detected them at the first pass, but I would refer you to the much respected Shsdowra who does broader testing.

once there is an infection the system (malware running on the system; not just a malicious file sitting in some directory doing nothing), that system can no longer be trusted and the user should perform a clean install of the operating system
As the past few videos have shown some scanners are poor but some are quite good and are certainly a much better option than a clean install of an OS and the re-installation of all applications (although I'm sure you meant reverting back to a clean disk image if one exists).

but it one thing to play with security software to observe the quality of malware removal, it is an entirely different matter when it is a real-world infection on a production machine where users perform online financial transactions and other activities involving valuable personal data
This exactly shows the need for an excellent 2nd opinion scanner (and conversly the dumping of those of lesser quality)! The data stealer used in the video was undetected and in the Wild for quite a while and infected God knows how many systems, being ignored by the primary protection used. Routine use of a quality 2nd opinion scanner may have mitigated data loss.
 

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